South Cross, Ballymore

South High Cross, Ballymore

The South Cross is the more damaged of the two High Crosses that stand in the grounds of St John’s Church in Ballymore Eustace. It is of uncertain date and the simplicity of its decoration, combined with the bold triangle motifs on the shaft, could possibly suggest the second great era of high cross production, the 12th century. During this period, and coinciding with Romanesque architecture, there was a resurgence of the high cross tradition that utilised more simplified and bolder forms of decoration than the earlier crosses of the 9th or 10th centuries. However, there are also many crosses surviving from the earlier period that have less decorative carving or plain surfaces. The overall form of this cross, with its tall narrow base, but in particularly, its ringed head, would tend to favour a dating within the earlier period. Chris Corlett has suggested a date in the 10th century (reference? where is this).

The cross is carved from granite and appears to be formed from two separate pieces; the shaft and ringed head originally constituting one piece, and this is seated into another single piece of granite that forms a steeply tapering base. The cross is significantly eroded and damaged. The head is broken away at a point just above the springing of the ring and is now lost.

Enough remains of ringed head to show that it was not punched all the way through, as was the norm with most high crosses, although unpierced rings are not uncommon. For example, the fragmentary cross at Ullard, Co. Kilkenny, which almost certainly comes from the same workshop as the north cross at Castledermot Co. Kildare, is one of many unpierced ringed cross heads. A more local example within Co. Kildare is located at Lipstown Lower, approximately 16.5 Km south west of Ballymore Eustace. The cross at Lipstown, which is associated with an early ecclesiastical enclosure (no longer existent above ground), is also of granite but is cruder in execution and more plain in deign. Its head and shaft are also carved from a single piece of rock. G.F. Barrett, has suggested a possible date of the twelfth century for the Lipstown cross (81), however, its general form, with a ringed head that has engaged arms not breaking the limits of the ring, would seem indicate an earlier date.

Prior to this survey, the only recorded carvings on this cross were the roll mouldings around the base and the shaft edges, along with the raised triangular motifs at the bottom of the shaft. The original photogrammetry model, from which the simplified model embedded above was created, enabled the discovery that the panels on the west and east faces of the base were decoratively carved. The west panel has a circular motif which is just discernible in the model, while that on the east is now beyond identification due to erosion.

Another observation on the nature of the base, made more apparent by the model, is the possibility that what we see above the current ground level may represent only part of the surface originally intended to be above ground. The roll moulding that runs along the edges of the base appear to continue below the present ground level in a manner that suggests there could be lower panels that are now buried. Indeed, on the east and west faces of base, where they meet the current ground level, the upper extremities of what are likely to be panels are visible. If this is a correct observation, there remains the possibility that these panels, if carved, have better preserved decorative details due to being protected from the elements. A licensed excavation would be necessary to investigate this possibility, so it is unlikely to remain unknown for the foreseeable future.

Below are an interpretative video followed by a number of graphics with images taken from the photogrammetry model with lighting effects aimed at improving the legibility of the craving. This cross was not a suitable candidate for the DEV-Low technique due to the heavily eroded surface, the course grain of the granite, and the extremely shallow carving.

Above: the elevations of the cross from the photogrammetry model and a conjectural reconstruction of the cross outline.

Above: elevation of the cross’s west face from the photogrammetry model with various lighting effects.

Above: the much eroded decorated west panel of the base from the photogrammetry model shown with various lighting effects. They reveal what could be a ringed cross motif with two bosses or circular motifs beneath.

Return to Ballymore Eustace Crosses

References:
Barrett, G.F. 2006 Discovering Kildare’s ‘hidden’ landscapes: archaeological air survey, 1989-2000. In Nolan, W. and McGrath, T. (eds.), County Kildare: History and Society, Geography Publications, Dublin, 69-95.